It has a significant further development potential with 44 km (27 mi) of sheltered inland waterfront on the lakes alone, easily accessible by road and railroad and adjacent to Varna International Airport.

The existing port facilities allow the handling of practically all kinds of solid bulk, break-bulk, containerized and some liquid-bulk cargoes.

Principal exports include urea, soda ash, cement, clinker, silica, fertilisers, grain, containers and ro-ro.

In 2008, plans were disclosed for another deepwater container terminal on the south side of the island for vessels carrying over 2500 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU).

Also in 2008, discussions were resumed (suspended in 1981) for a 192 km long navigable canal Rousse–Varna connecting the lower river Danube with the Varna lakes and the Black Sea, but this enterprise is still considered economically unfeasible and utopian by many.